University of Georgia football star Jalen Carter allegedly raced through the streets of Athens with a car that exceeded 100 mph. He told the police he knew that occupants of the other car were intoxicated.
After the other car flew off the roadway in a violent crash that killed the driver and a passenger, Carter left the scene, apparently before police and emergency medical crews arrived. When the police questioned him later, he gave an inconsistent account of events leading to the crash.
Now Carter faces two misdemeanor charges in connection with the crash: street racing and reckless driving. The charges could have been more serious.
Carter, 21, projected as a top pick in this year’s NFL draft, was booked into the Athens-Clarke County Jail late Wednesday. He posted a $4,000 bond and was released 16 minutes later, jail records show. He is scheduled to be arraigned on April 18.
The Athens-Clarke County police, who investigated the crash, said the charges were the most appropriate and wouldn’t comment Thursday on whether they considered more consequential offenses.
A police spokesman said that after gathering evidence, investigators discussed the case extensively with the district attorney’s office, the solicitor general’s office and the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.
“Based on the evidence obtained, and conversations with prosecutors, the listed charges were deemed most appropriate,” Lt. Shaun Barnett said in an email.
Under state law, a person who unintentionally causes another’s death through reckless driving can be charged with vehicular homicide. Proving that Carter, not the other car’s driver, caused the deaths could be difficult, however, legal experts said.
Vehicular homicide carries a potential prison sentence of three to 15 years. The maximum penalty for each misdemeanor charge is 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The police obtained warrants for Carter’s arrest after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that he had left the scene of the Jan. 15 accident, which took the lives of football recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy, 24, and offensive lineman Devin Willock, 20. Another recruiting staff member, Tory Bowles, 26, and lineman Warren McClendon, 21, were injured.
Credit: Compilation
Credit: Compilation
The crash occurred after a long day and night of celebration of Georgia’s second consecutive national football championship. A group of football players and staff members left a downtown Athens strip club about 2:30 a.m., headed for a Waffle House about three miles away.
The Athens police said the vehicles — Carter’s Jeep Cherokee Trackhawk and LeCroy’s Ford Expedition, rented by the UGA athletic association — “switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists and drove at high rates of speed, in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other.”
Investigators determined the Expedition was driving 104 mph shortly before the crash. Athens police didn’t say whether they know exactly how fast Carter was driving.
“We have a precise speed for the vehicle that LeCroy was operating,” Barnett said in an email. “The vehicle that Carter was operating was traveling in close proximity to the LeCroy vehicle prior to the crash.”
A toxicology test determined that LeCroy’s blood-alcohol concentration at the time of the crash was .197, nearly 2 1/2 times the legal limit.
Hours after leaving jail, Carter returned to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Thursday, where he was scheduled to interview with teams interested in drafting him next month. He made no public comments Thursday. In a statement posted Wednesday on Twitter, Carter predicted he would be “fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing.”
Carter’s agent did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
— Staff writers D. Orlando Ledbetter, Gabriel Burns and Chip Towers contributed reporting.
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